Herb Shriner was not a "Southerner", as a previous commenter so patronizingly stated. He was actually born in Toledo (Ohio), one of the Northernmost points in the contiguous 48 states, and grew up in Indiana. His "slow drawl" was actually a Midwestern twang that put him in the company of Will Rogers. His sons, Wil and Kin, were also successful in television --- Wil, as a comedian who was highly touted by another Hoosier, the gap-toothed neurotic David Letterman, and Kin, as an actor in TV soap operas.
Television was different in the 1950s, with the new medium finding its way and relying upon stage performers and radio personalities who were accustomed to working live. And, even then, the Civil War had ended 90 years previous, so the South was once again part of the US.
